Speeding a surprise to the ACT police

Just saw a tweet from ABC News in Canberra that indicated that whilst the ACT remained fatality free, the local constabulary are alarmed at the number of drivers caught speeding over the festive period. 155 drivers were caught for speeding offences on our roads this Christmas. 155 speeding idiots will be the victim of the double demerit system.

I personally feel like i see a different numbat speeding every minute of every journey I make in a car. So, have the local bobbies just been doing their job more effectively and thus caught more idiots, i.e, more cops in cars on the roads catch more offenders? Does this show that RA posters have been right all along and that the bad driving habits of Canberrans is actually something to home about? And should they continue on with getting out and about more – the police, not the idiots that is.

I’m with you. ACT Policing seem to be surprised by everything the rest of us take for granted. And it’s their job! Nurses tend to become accustomed to blood. Teachers tend to become accustomed to adolescents. But police and speeding? Nope, that’s a surprise. Worse still, it’s an alarming surprise!

“I personally feel like i see a different numbat speeding every minute of every journey I make in a car. So, have the local bobbies just been doing their job more effectively and thus caught more idiots, i.e, more cops in cars on the roads catch more offenders?”

agree that more cops should be on the road, but not just to catch speeding drivers. they also need to enforce all of the other road rules. there are a lot of drivers out there who do boneheaded things!

what I also wonder is whether 155 people caught speeding in the double demerit period is actually higher than usual? otherwise this stat is meaningless.

People seem to treat the street I live in as a racecourse- yesterday I witnessed four different cars and three motorbikes (separate incidents) doing in excess of 80kph past my house. My street is as most, a 50kph zone. I’d welcome the Police setting up out the front of my place with a radar, they’d take around 4 licenses a day. Most disgustingly is that it’s school holidays and some of these vehicles seem to reside in streets off mine.
WTF is wrong with these people?

Although I am against the police targetting speeders (as it seems they do little else) too much speed IS a bad thing. It’s actually really f***ing scary that they are this is their official statement on the issue. Are they really that thick?

“the local constabulary are alarmed at the number of drivers caught speeding”

And local drivers are alarmed at the number of constabulary who are alarmed.

“have the local bobbies just been doing their job more effectively and thus caught more idiots … ?”

I will put it to you that the vast majority were caught by camera, not Mr Plod, whose presence on Canberra roads continues to be negligible.
Over the break I ventured to Qbn twice, for a total of about 15 minutes on the road across the border. In that time, I saw more NSW police patrolling/policing (three) than I saw in the ACT in the xmas period.
Am pretty sure the entire ACT policing force are desk jockeys – certainly the ones I know are.

- It is compulsory to drive 100kmh (or more) in an 80kmh zone
- It is compulsory to drive 80kmh within the average speed camera zone
- You MUST immediately accelerate to 100kmh once exiting average speed camera zone
- When driving in a 50kmh zone, ensure you are at least moving at 65kmh
- At all times, remain no further than 5 metres behind the vehicle traveling in front of you
- If vehicle traveling in front of you is not driving at least 10kmh over the given speed limit, decrease gap between you and vehicle in front to 1 metre
- DO NOT indicate when exiting a roundabout
- (this seems more common now) General use of indicators when turning is *optional*. When changing lanes, when turning, merging in to one lane etc. Indicators are NOT mandatory REPEAT NOT mandatory… Indicators are like sooo oldschool, seriously.
- If your vehicle is displaying red P plates, ensure you are driving 20kmh over the given speed limit sign
- If your vehicle is displaying red P plates and you have at least 1 passenger on board, ensure you travel 25kmh over the given speed limit

Have I missed anything????

PS: shirty_bear, so it’s not just me that thinks ACT Police are non existent (or maybe just invisible :-o). It is truly amazing if one does see a Police car in Canberra. And extra interesting to see them on the road. However, it’s not so interesting or surprising to see dickhead drivers every minute on the road in Canberra.

“Alarmed” is not the same thing as surprised and doesnt at all suggest that the Police are ignorant of speeding. Some posts complain that the police should be doing other things yet others post complain that its all police do. Marrry this up with the “its just revenue raisng” brigade and its hard to know what is expected of them. More police? Or less? Focus on traffic issues? Or get on with “real” Police work?